Kids' Recipe: Cake Balls

Cake baking can get boring. There are usually only a few options for the actual baking: making a traditional cake, whipping up some cupcakes or baking an everyday cake batter in a cake mold. Beyond that, creativity in the cake world has been assigned to the decorating…until now.

I recently found a fun new recipe from the masters of all things gelatin: Jell-O. The powers that be at Jell-O have developed a creative way to make cake more fun, and their recipe for Cake Balls is easy and delicious. So here it goes, verbatim: the recipe from Jell-O’s site:

What You Need:

½ cup cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 oz) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 small fully ripe banana, mashed
1 pkg. (10.75 oz) frozen pound cake, thawed, crumbled into crumbs
3 pkg. (4.4 oz each) milk chocolate bars, chopped
2 Tbsp. multi-colored sprinkles

Make It:

1. STIR milk and pudding mix in medium bowl with large spoon just until pudding mix is moistened. Immediately add bananas and cake crumbs; mix well.
2. SHAPE into 36 (1-inch) balls; place on waxed paper-covered rimmed baking sheet. Freeze 1 hour.
3. MELT chocolate in medium microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min., stirring after 1 min. Dip balls in chocolate; return to baking sheet. Top immediately with sprinkles. Let stand until coating is firm.

Tips, Tricks and a Review

I enjoyed this recipe for a few reasons. One, it was relatively easy to make. Two, they kept well in the freezer for a while (which I know because my hubby and I each ate one as an occasional treat; the suckers lasted for months!). Three, they’re different, tasty and fun, which makes them a sure crowd pleaser.

For the negative side, though, it can be difficult to roll the cakes in the chocolate; trying to dip them as one large consecutive batch made the cakes defrost too much to roll easily, and it made the chocolate tough to work with, too. It took me a while to figure out that I needed to dip them in batches; that the cakes molds had to be as frozen as possible; and that the chocolate had to be hot or warm. Also, a tip from the Jell-O website: break off the middle tines of a plastic fork to be your cake ball rolling tool – it makes rolling the balls through chocolate so much easier.

Overall, I really liked this recipe. For me, it was a great way to make 36 small desserts that I could freeze and eat over a long time period. For others, the Cake Balls could be a great class treat or birthday party cake.

Photo Source: Christa's pic of her (lopsided...) cake balls.